1. Food--The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that food prices will rise about 3 percent in 2014. But some items on the menu like chocolate, beef, bread and cereal will be higher. Demand is skyrocketing to the point that it's more than the supply. A cocoa shortage caused chocolate prices to climb higher in 2013 over 2012. Some experts are claiming prices could climb as high as 26 percent in 2014. Beef prices have also been predicted to climb 3 to 6 percent because there is more demand than supply. An increase in the cost of wheat and wheat flour may cause bread and cereal prices to rise in the supermarket, possibly 4 to 5 percent higher than in 2013.

2. Clothing--Cotton-based products will most likely increase by 5 to 8 percent in 2014. Blame it on bad crop conditions and the need to use the fields for other crops.

3. Houses--This is good or bad news, depending whether you're a seller or a buyer. Home prices are on the rise and should continue because of the downturn over the past few years. Interest rates are still favorable and new builds are picking up steam. The demand for both new and previously owned homes should pick up and prices will go up as well.

4. Automobiles--From 2012 to 2013, new-car prices climbed 1.1 percent. Prices should rise at least that much in 2014 and possibly more. There are 57 new looks that the auto industry will be unveiling. Those new looks drive up prices. And with the demand now catching up with the supply, you'll see less incentives, which will result in bottom-line higher prices for most new cars. Some good news--the cost of gas is expected to go down in 2014, averaging $3.43 a gallon, just seven cents less than the average cost of fuel in 2013. Gasbuddy.com is predicting even less expensive gas at $3.40 a gallon in 2014.

5. Pay TV--Cable television has hiked its rates the last few years. According to The Wall Street Journal, the average cable bill jumped from $48 in 2001 to $128 a month in 2011. Expect satellite TV to start off 2014 with higher prices. Both DirecTV and Dish Network are raising their fees; prices will vary depending on the company and packages, but between mid-January and early February, customers can expect to pay about $2 to $5 more a month. Most analysts blame it on the rising cost of content. The networks charge the cable companies for the cost of programming and that cost is passed onto the consumer.

6. Stamps—The price of a first-class stamp goes up three cents on January 26th, bringing the cost of mailing a letter to 49 cents. This is a temporary price hike, designed to last two years. Forever Stamps cost 46 cents until January 25th. The rise in prices is to help offset $2.8 billion in losses the U.S. Postal Service has taken.

1. The post office--Instead of email, someone used to come all the way to your house just to drop a bunch of ads into a box on the front porch. This service was a big money loser.

2. Parking meters--There was a time when you had to pay for parking by putting coins into a little steel box on a pole.

3. Bank tellers--People used to visit a bank branch to make deposits and withdrawals. That can now be done digitally in seconds with no travel involved.

4. Paper statements--Trees used to give their lives so that those who refused to go digital could get bills and other statements in the mail.

5. Paper checks--While it was illegal to make your own paper money, it was OK to write an amount of money on a piece of ordinary paper. Once you signed it, it somehow magically became the same as money.

6. Cable TV--Before universal Wi-Fi, there used to be a wire running all the way from downtown to bring entertainment into the house.

7. Toll booths--Before they started charging tolls by taking a picture of your license plate, you had to stop at a booth and either throw money in a basket or hand it to someone. They were kind of like phone booths on the turnpike.

8. Phone booths--Before everyone had wireless phones, there used to be little glass rooms on street corners where you'd go in and use coins to make a call. For some people, they also doubled as bathrooms.

9. Newspapers--In days before everyone had computers at home and in their pockets, printing presses made paper versions of websites. People would then drive around and throw them on your lawn.

10. Car keys--Cars had keys you'd insert into a keyhole in the doors and dashboard to unlock and start the car. Sometimes you'd lock them in, then try to retrieve them with a coat hanger. Other people would stop and try to help.

11. Bookstores--A retail store where you'd go to buy books.

12. Books--There used to be a physical version of e-books made out of paper.

13. DVDs--Before movies were delivered online, they came on discs you'd stick into your computer or a player attached to your TV.

14. Incandescent lighting--This kind of light bulb didn't last as long or cost as much as LED lighting, but it had a nice glow to it.

15. Fax machines--These devices transmitted a piece of paper to another fax machine anywhere in the world. It worked over phone lines.

16. Phone lines--Before wireless, calls were carried on wires. Like power wires, they were strung everywhere and stopped working during snow and ice storms.

17. Non-digital picture frames--There was a time when a picture frame could only display one picture at a time, so you needed a frame for every picture. Some were better looking than the picture they contained.

18. Cursive handwriting--You'd pick up a pen or pencil and actually write things by hand. Not only that, but the letters of each word were all connected in such a way that it was often impossible to decipher.

19. Camcorders--Before HD video cameras became standard in phones, you had to buy a separate device if you wanted video selfies.

20. Blind dates--In the days before dating websites, people were forced to meet one another any way they could, including being introduced to friends of friends. It was awkward, because there was no way to IM, text, exchange pics or otherwise communicate before actually meeting. The people you met this way usually weren't as good looking as you.

21. Talking to one person at a time--Before pocket computers, you weren't required to stay in constant communication on text. It also wasn't customary to let everyone you'd ever met know where you were and what you were doing on Facebook. As a result, you'd often find yourself forced to communicate solely with the people in front of you.

22. Driving a car--Before self-driving cars, you had to do it all: gas, brakes, mirrors, turn signals, talk on the phone, text, put on makeup and eat, all at the same time.

23. Setting a thermostat--Before "The Internet of Things," you had to manually set the temperature in your house.

24. Forgetting someone's name--Before Google Glass came along, we had to recognize faces all by ourselves, and remember their personal information.

25. Buying music--With Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, iTunes Radio, etc., we have unlimited music libraries that we pay for by the month. Before that, we bought our music one song or album at a time and built collections.

Here are seven resolutions for better social-media use in the new year:

1. Don't post pictures of all your meals--Interrupting your dinner to Instagram is rude to your dining companions, not to mention obnoxious for other people sitting nearby who have to endure your camera flashes and "which filter looks better?" questions. Try limiting your food pics to special items like a customized birthday cake or maybe that famous 2-pound burger you must finish to earn a free T-shirt and your photo on the pub wall.

2. Think before you tweet—It's amazing how many smart people blast out thoughts on Twitter without considering the sheer stupidity of what they're saying. It takes only a few seconds to compose a dumb tweet. The damage can last much longer.

3. Don't tag people in unflattering photos--Ask permission before posting questionable photos of people online. It's just common courtesy.

4. Fact-check first--No, Tom Cruise didn't die in April in a car accident in Australia. But you wouldn't know that right away from all the breathless posts on Facebook and Twitter. Then there are the fake Facebook posts, offering cheap airfare or free iPads, that try to scam you with malicious links. Social media can spread misinformation as fast as truths. Unless you want your friends to stop trusting you, Snopes.com is a good source for debunking these rumors. Or you could just use common sense.

5. Remember that less can be more--An artfully rendered Instagram photo of your baby or cat or snowy backyard can be a beautiful thing. Seven photos in an hour, not so much.

The same can apply to rapid-fire tweeting or constant Facebook updates. Unless you're live-blogging from the Oscars, don't overwhelm your friends' feeds. They will thank you.

6. Go easy on the selfies--Yes, "selfie" is the word of the year for 2013. And selfies can be fun to look at when the person is 1. wearing a costume, 2. with a celebrity or 3. standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. Preferably all three at once. But we don't really need to see you in front of your bathroom mirror, making a duck face. By its nature, social media is already narcissistic enough.

7. Be your authentic self--There is now a whole corps of "social media experts" who will tell you "how to build your personal brand." Ignore them. The nature of networking hasn't really changed -- it's still about who you know, staying in touch and being willing to put yourself out there -- and no number of marketing gimmicks will change that.

Be genuine. Be someone you'd enjoy talking to at a party. If you're using social media only to collect likes and followers, you're probably doing something wrong.

Two months after a woman found a couch on a curb, she found a giant snake had been hiding under the cushions.

The woman took the couch from off a street in Michigan and had had it in her bedroom for a couple months before finding the reptile. She cleaned the couch when she first took it home but never saw the animal.

Her mystery roommate revealed itself when it tried to slither out of the couch, possibly in search of food or warmth. Unfortunately, the snake died before she could get help for it.